Beneath the Surface
by Jupiter666
Summary: Almost a year has past since Lhach joined the X-Men and learned to control his powers. But just one crack in a structure can tear it down from the inside out. But Xavier quickly learns that not everything is as it seems and sometimes even the smartest...
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Yey! I'm back! WoOT! I guess I should put this up here: this first part of this story is pretty long. It's interesting but the main point of the story, the climax or the main conflict…what ever you wanna call it doesn't really start in part one. Yes there will be most likely two parts. Maybe three if necessary. I really don't know exactly what's going to happen. Anyhoo…I do not own X-Men Evolution and seeing how you already know all this (because it is very necessary to have read the first story about Lhach, Alive or Just Breathing, in order to understand any of this…) I will not be putting up a disclaimer on every chapter. Just this one and sometimes when I need to write authors notes or thank every for reviewing SO MUCH (hint,hint) Also, I think I might have said this in the last story but just in case I didn't Lhach is pronounced 'lohkh' like a lock with an small 'h' sound at the end. One more thing…at the beginning of every chapter, it starts out with Kitty writing in her journal. It always has something to do with the story so don't just skip it. Anyhoo…..enjoooy!!

* * *

Summery: Almost a year has past since Lhach joined the X-Men and learned to control his powers. But just one crack in a structure can tear it down from the inside out. But Xavier quickly learns that not everything is as it seems and sometimes even the smartest people can't see what lies beneath the surface. Rated PG-13 for swearing, some violence and some lemmon. _Highly recommended to read 'Alive or Just Breathing' first._

Chapter 1 – Default Chapter

_'I've very happy today…talk about getting right to the point… I'm not sure why though. It seems like it's been a long time since I've had a bad day. I guess things have just been going well for me lately. It seems like forever since Lhach finally took control of his powers and joined the X-Men. It'll be a year next month. He's really improving. He's showing great control over is powers and everything. I'm really impressed. He's even been joining us in the Danger Room sessions in the morning. I guess he's not considered 'lethal' any more as Kurt puts it. And not too long ago Lhach was allowed to attend Bayville high school with the rest of us as well. I'm really happy for him. I don't know why but it's like, I can completely understand him. It's weird. I can consider him a close friend now. I bet not even the professor could have seen that coming.'_

Kitty put down her pen and leaned back in her chair. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She closed her eyes as a smile tugged at her lips. She really was happy for Lhach. They had gotten very close after what had happened with him.

The sound of the door creaking open penetrated her thoughts as Kitty opened her eyes. Rogue was standing the doorway, her backpack messily hung over her shoulder as usual.

"C'mon Kitty. We're gunna be late. Scott said he'd give us a ride."

"Okay." Kitty closed her book and placed it carefully under her desk. She grabbed her own backpack off the ground and followed Rogue out the door.

* * *

Kitty pushed a piece of chocolaty brown hair back behind her ear as she casually walked into Bayville High. The crowded hallways were as noisy as ever but one topic seemed to remain on everybody's lips. Duncan Matthews's party. He was throwing a huge Halloween bash at his house as he did every year. But this year was special. Since Kitty was finally old enough, was had received an invitation.

"They say Duncan's party is gunna be the best!"

"Ya! I heard his parents are gunna be away for the whole weekend!"

Kitty smiled in satisfaction as she heard the gossip from around the school. She was finally able to go.

Kitty began to open her locker and place her backpack inside when a boy with ebony hair walked up to her. His messy bangs lightly fell over his eyes and his pack bag hung effortlessly around his shoulder.

"Lhach! What's up?" She said cheerfully.

"Nothin' much. How 'bout you?" He asked, stalling.

"Um. Same here…why?"

"Oh, well I was just wondering, if..um…"

But before Lhach could finish his sentence they heard the bell ring that marked the beginning of class.

"Oh, great. Late again!" Kitty moaned as she shut her locker, "That's the third time this week!"

Her and Lhach walked hastily to their first class, which was luckily the same one. The teacher, Mrs. Thornburough, (a/n HA that was my evil bitchy 7th grade teacher! Revenge to her! REVENGE!) gave them that 'how-many-times-are-you-going-to-try-to-pull-this-off-in-one-week??' look, which wasn't very pleasant.

"Um…my locker got jammed?" Lhach lied.

Mrs. Thornburough's expression did not change, "I'm marking this as another tardy you two. One more time and it's a detention for the both of you. Now take your seats." She said sternly.

Lhach and Kitty did as they were told and took their seats across the room from each other.

* * *

Meanwhile…in another part of the school.

Lance, Pietro, Blob and Toad were also late. However, they had no intention of going to class any way so it really didn't matter.

They were just casually wandering down the halls pretending like they were off to class.

"I heard the jock, Duncan Matthews, is throwin a huge Halloween party." Lance said

"Sounds like fun." Pietro commented in an almost sarcastic tone.

Toad had also heard about the party. He hopped in front of the group in order to get their attention, "Ya. I say we go in there, and wreck the place. Ya know, like crash the party."

Pietro smiled nastily "Now's _that's _my idea of fun."

"Ya. I say we go." Blob said, "Maybe we can even liven things up a bit."

Lance grinned, "Then it's settled. Tomorrow night we'll all go the party."

Blob stoped to think for a minute. Which was actually two minutes for him, "Wait, don't we need invitations to get into that party?"

Toad rolled his eyes, "Not when ya crash it, yo." He said.

"Excuse me…" A voice sounded from behind them.

They all stopped dead in their tracts.

A darker haired haired woman, obviously a teacher, was standing right behind them. She wasn't too tall and could barely look Pietro in the face. "Where are you going with out a pass?" She asked snobbishly in that 'matter-of-fact' tone.

Lance and the others exchanged looks, "Um…well you see…"

The teacher pulled a pad of small yellow paper out of her pocket and scribbled their names on them. She handed Lance the paper, "That's a detention. For all of you. Today after school in my classroom."

"But it's Friday!" Lance exclaimed.

The teacher eyed him, "Well maybe you should've thought about that when you were attempting to skip class!" And with that, she turned on her heal and walked back into her classroom without letting Lance else respond.

"Great." Pietro sighed.

* * *

Back in the classroom, Mrs. Thornburough had decided to go on one of her lectures about the 'proper' way to write a heading on you school assignments seeing how a whole two people forgot to put the class hour. (a/n my teacher goes off on this ALL the time it is so irritating!!)

Kitty leaned over and folded her arms on her desk. She tried to keep her eyes from going in and out of foucus but the urge to sleep was just too strong. She rested her head on her arms and closed her eyes. Just then, a small paper football landed on her desk. She opened one eye and studied it lazily. She casually picked it up and unfolded it. On the paper it read: _hey kitty. wats ?_

Kitty looked around the room to see who had sent it. She looked over and saw Lhach fumbling with a pencil. He looked over and gave a small sarcastic wave from under his desk. Kitty flipped the small piece of paper over and wrote: _nuttin much. by the way…wut wer u gunna say 2 me earlier??_

She folded the paper back up and threw it over to Lhach. When she got it back it read: _if u wer goin 2 Duncan's Halloween party/dance/thingamachicken with any1'_

Kitty laughed silently to herself and wrote back:

_'do u count as sumbody?'_

Lhach smiled at her after reading the note. But his smile was quickly replaced a nervous glance as he noticed Mrs. Thornburough was standing right next to him.

She looked at him with her cold hard stare and frowned, "Passing notes in class? That's a detention for you mr Laurenson."

Kitty laughed at him in her head. She had never heard someone say his last name before.

Lhach opened his mouth to protest but quickly shut it as he realized he was lucky to just have a detention. Even if it was on a Friday.

* * *

YES Laurenson is his last name! Hurrah! His middle name is Lucas! Howz aboutz dem apples?!?! And I assigned him the middle name Lucas before I saw Sins of the Son from X-Men evolution so I did not copy them. They copied me! You wouldn't believe how long I've had the character Lhach. I just loved his character so much and I didn't feel that I really portrayed his personality well in the last story. Then again it's pretty hard when he's polar schizophrenic. I think that's the correct use for the word. I'm not entirely sure. Oh well. As usual...I've put up two chapters to start off the story but that doesn't mean you don't have to review this one!! Over and out!


	2. Detention Can Be Fun

Chapter 2 – Detention **Can** Be Fun

'I can't believe Lhach got a detention. And on a Friday. The day before Duncan's party. Maybe it's not so much the dentition. Maybe it's the fact that he asked me out. I don't know. I mean, why should I care? Lance wasn't even going anyway so he couldn't have asked me out. The truth is, I think I like Lhach as more than just a friend. Maybe that's why I said yes. I really don't know.'

At the Institute…

Xavier took off the Ceribro helmet in frustration. He scanned the screen in front of him one last time and sighed. Beast, who had been standing next to him, passed a hand through his hair.

"I don't understand. Why won't she use her powers?" Xavier asked no one in particular.

Beast was just as stumped as he was, "I'm not sure. But this isn't like Mystique at all. She hasn't used her powers in over a month." He said, "It's really beginning to worry me."

"She must be planning something."

"Right. If only we had some sort of why to find out."

Silence surrounded the two as they thought about what each other had said. Beast was right. It really wasn't like Mystique to not use her powers for that long.

"Charles, I have an idea." Beast said, "What if we sent one or two of the students to go find out what's going on?

Xavier thought about it for a moment, "I don't know. They could get hurt. Who knows what could happen if Mystique catches them. I'm not sure if I want to risk that right now."

* * *

Lhach and Kitty walked towards the front doors of the school amongst the large crowds of kids waiting to go home. With one last wave and 'good-bye' Lhach headed to room 105 – Mrs. Thornburough's, for detention.

"Hmm…She doesn't deserve a room." He mumbled under his breath, almost jokingly.

He opened the door quietly and adjusted his pack back. With a swift look around the room and noticed Lance Alvers, Pietro Maximof, Toad Tolansky, and that other fat kid that always hung around them, sitting in the corner.

'Oh great…' He thought as he took a seat in the front of the classroom, 'Just what I need. A confrontation with 'the Brotherhood'.'

Though Lhach had never actually fought the Brotherhood with the X-Men, he knew exactly who they were from Kitty, Kurt and Evan.

He dropped his backpack onto the floor and sat back in his seat. He exhaled deeply and sighed. He was stuck in a small, stuffy classroom on a Friday afternoon with the Brotherhood and the meanest, most strict, and bitchyest (a/n YES that is a word. It's my word) in the whole school. He sighed again and tried to think of the positives. Like that'll help. Well, at least he got a date with Kitty Pryde. That was good, right?

"Since it's just you boys today, I have to get the absent list from the office. Normally I'd send one of my students down to get it for me but you boys have already proven that you can't be trusted with something like that." She spat. As she began to walk out of the door she turned and said, "If I catch one of you goofing off while I'm gone you all will get referrals!" She added and sped out the door.

Once he was sure she was out of hearing range, Lance coughed, "Bitch." And received a few snickers from his friends.

Lhach rolled his eyes and sunk down in his chair.

"Hey, isn't that Xavier's new kid?" Toad whispered to the others.

"Yeah, I think so. He's been hangin out with the X-Geeks anyway." Lance conformed.

Pietro smiled wickedly and got up, "Then I think I'm gunna have a little fun before Mrs. 'Thornbitch' comes back."

Before Toad could comment, Pietro was already standing next to Lhach's desk. Lhach didn't notice him nor care, due to the fact that he had closed his eyes to drown out the Brotherhood's constant snickering.

"Hey, aren't you the new kid?"

Lhach heard him but chose to ignore him. Normally, that would have been a good move. But not today.

Pietro knew he was being ignored so he decided to continue talking, typical, "So, have ya ever heard of the X-Men?" He asked in his cocky no-good attitude of his.

However Lhach continued to just drown him out. Pietro wasn't expecting this so he quickly grew irritated. Lance and the others could be heard trying to muffle their laughter. Blob got up from his desk, which he somehow had managed to squeeze into, and approached Lhach as well.

"Hey, aren't you that new freak at Xavier's?" He asked in the same attitude.

Lhach stood up rather quickly and looked them over. Pietro grinned, clearly satisfied with himself for making Lhach mad. But Lhach somehow remained calm. He replied in the same cocky attitude.

"Maybe."

Pietro's grin fell and he starred at Lhach intensely. He obviously didn't find that funny.

Lhach's eyes softened and a smile pulled at his lips, " And may I presume that you are 'the Brotherhood'. Well isn't this nice. I never thought I run into Mystique's lackeys in a detention room." He said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Pietro's blood began to boil. By this time, Lance and Toad where standing next to Pietro and Blob.

"But then again…" Lhach eyed Blob, "I guess it'd be pretty hard to not run into you."

That was it. Lance let out a low growl and the ground began to shake lightly. Blob charged at Lhach as Lance's earthquake began to take way.

But Lhach was too quick. He flipped backwards away from Blob just as he punched a fist through the air. Lhach backed up against the wall and a strange feeling came over him. It was as if everything was in caught in slow motion. Then suddenly the sides of his vision went blurry, and his eyes grew darker and darker until his normal light blue orbs had turned to dark navy. Something in the wall beside him back to shake as a large pipe was thrown out of the wall, sending bits and pieces of dry wall into the air. However, the strange part was that the pipe was a darker colour too and no one had pulled in out of the wall.

Lhach's eyes darted toward Blob as he attempted to throw another punch. But the pipe then went towards him and rapped around Blob massive arm, holding him back from attacking Lhach.

Suddenly, Mrs. Thronburough walked into the classroom. She froze in her tracks, the absent list slipping from her loosened grip. The pipe returned to its normal colour and fell to the ground, emitting the only sound that could be heard in the classroom. Lhach snapped his head up as he looked around as if just waking up from a nightmare. He broke out in a cold sweat and tried to backup only to realize he was still up against the wall.

Everyone froze where they were as Mrs. Thornborough moved her eyes toward the large hole in the wall next to Lhach. One thing puzzled her. That wall was made out of white brick. She turned and glared hard at the boys as Lance tried to cover up the cracks in the ground from his earthquake.

* * *

Okay so that never happened to me but I did get a detention in Mrs. Thornburough's class and she did say that about the absent list. Maybe not word for word for pretty darn close. So, how'd ya like it so far?? The only way to tell me is to review ya know! I'd say more but I am really at a loose for words after the thrilling conversation with my friend about cows. Tell me, not that it was a bad find or anything, but come on! What idiot would think to pull the little dangly thingies underneath a cow and drink whatever came out?? I dunno, it really was a stupid conversation. Anyhoo…please review! I think that's my new catch phrase!! It rhymes and everything!


	3. Trust is a Commitment

Disclaimer: I own nothing (cry) Anyhoo…I just saw the movie Donnie Darko and fell in love with it. That movie RAWKS! A lot! I recommend it to everyone who likes movies and even to those who don't…it is still worth your time. The reason why I put that is cuz for those of you who might have already seen it (which I bet is barely any) I based Lhach's outfit of off Donnie's at the Halloween party. And no, Donnie Darko is not as corny as it sounds. One more thing…I am located in England so sometimes I write 'ou' instead of just 'o' without realizing it such as favour or colour so don't think I'm stupid if you see that. Okay time for you to read and review. Enjoy…

KeaIshTak: Yes…I was talking about Kyo and Jeco (Jecco?) too . Like I said, it was a very interesting conversation. And you probably guessed, it was Jeco who started it.

Dark4u( ) – Kool name. And I don't normally do pairings with my own characters but this one was just to good to pass up. If you like the Kitty/Lhach pairing you're gunna love chapter 4 (laughs evilly)

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Chapter 3 – Trust is a Commitment

_'TGIS. Thank god it's Saturday! There were tons of rumors flying around about Lhach and that he had gotten into a huge fight with the Brotherhood! I wouldn't know why but even my friends, Ashley and Amanda called me this morning to tell me. Meanwhile I still don't know what to wear to Duncan's party. I don't know why I feel so compelled to impress Lhach. Why would I need to? I think I'm still not quite over the fact that he asked me out. Oh well. We'll just have to see what happens."_

It was Saturday morning, the morning of Duncan's Halloween party, even though Halloween was the day after. Xavier had called everybody up early for a short, fourty-five minute training session in the Danger Room.

Lhach had come along as well with the other X-Men and new recruits. Xavier had just gotten done explaining what they would be up against and was making his way up to the control room the start the session.

Kurt looked over at Kitty who had been talking with Lhach, "Man, Kitty's been hangink out vith Lhach a lot, ya know." He mentioned to Scott.

"So, they're good friends. What's wrong with that?"

"I just…I just don't know if I can trust him."

"Aw, c'mon curt. You gotta give him a change."

Kurt sighed, "I know, but I still can't get over how Lhach stabbed Kitty. And after everyzink I heard about Lhach's encounter vith ze Brotherhood ze other day, I just don't know." He said quietly, "I know zhey're still a little sore about vhat had happen last year, and I know Lhach didn't mean to hurt her…" he said, practically pulling the words out of Scott's mouth, "But he still did hurt her. He kinda…well, practically kil...."

"I know. But the professor's been working a lot with Lhach, every day actually, and Lhach has pretty good control over his powers now. I mean, if he didn't…he wouldn't have been able to attend the high school."

The siren sounded, signaling the session to start.

"Vell, ve'll see." He said, running out toward the center of the room with the others.

Out of nowhere, four giant metal tentacles flew out of the walls on either side of them. They were mounted with various lasers and ray guns that immediately begun shooting at the teams. Everyone took the arms head-on, including Lhach.

Much to everyone's surprise, he showed great control over his powers. His eyes no longer went black and every time a ray gun or a plasma beam would shoot at him, the gun would simply darken and shatter to pieces.

However, the more he fought, the harder it became to suppress the memories of what had happened in the detention room the day before. His one problem was being burdened by memories and guilt. That's what triggered his emotions and his deepest, darkest powers that he lost control of before.

Lhach never told anyone about this. He thought that if Xavier knew, he'd get kicked out of the X-Men. Lhach had worked his butt off all year and not once had his eyes turned black. Until the other day with the Brotherhood.

All of a sudden, the entire wall with one of tentacles attached to it began to crumble to pieces and suddenly explode. The wall became a darker shade of gray as it fell heavily to the ground below.

Scott and Jean tried to hold it back but nothing was working. Everyone cleared the area as the wall crashed onto the ground and exploded on impact. Dust and large pieces of debris flew everywhere. But Lhach was frozen. His pupils grew small and his eyes began to turn darker once more. He couldn't move. Frozen in shock. But a sharp piece of metal from the tentacle was headed in Lhach's direction unseen and unheard.

Kitty knocked Lhach onto the floor just in time. His eyes changed back to normal as he hit ground. He shook himself mentally and snapped out of the trans-like state he was in. He immediately broke into a cold sweat after realizing what had happened.

As the smoke cleared, Kitty noticed that she was practically lying on top of Lhach. Her face beamed red as she backed away slowly.

"Are you okay?" She said, trying to recover her composition.

Lhach still seemed like he was in a state of shock.

Two words escaped past his lips without him knowing it. Those two words sent a chill down Kitty's spine. She repeated them in her head just to make sure she wasn't imagining it. She stared at Lhach hard and he looked around with a confused expression on his face. He starred past her and noticed the damage from the wall.

Had he really done that?

* * *

Xavier had called Lhach down to his office right after everyone had left the Danger Room to talk about what happened. Xavier was not expecting something like this to happen. Not now anyway.

"Lhach, what happened?"

Lhach looked to the ground in shame, his dark ebony hair falling losing in front of his eyes, "I'm sorry professor. I…I just lost control. I didn't mean too. It just, sort of happened."

"Lhach, things don't just 'happen'. There has to be some reason or some cause." He stated, "I understand it wasn't intentional. I know you wouldn't purposely endanger the lives of your fellow teammates. But you did. And I want to know why."

Lhach had been making so much progress but ever since that detention incident his powers had been lingering on uncontrollable. And it finally came out that morning. Xavier simply didn't understand.

He looked up into Lhach's eyes and he didn't need to read his mind to see that he was sorry. He had been doing so well. He didn't want to lose Xavier's trust or want him to be disappointed. And Xavier could see that.

"Alright. I believe you. We'll just have to find out why that happened, and work on it in our next session, okay?"

Lhach nodded slowly, not taking his gaze of the floor.

"Lhach, I'm not upset with you. Accidents happen. I know that. But you can't dwell on these things. I think that has a great deal to do with your control."

He didn't want Xavier to give up on him. But nothing was working, and Lhach thought he very well might.

"You can go now."

Lhach nodded again and left the room silently.

* * *

Kitty stumbled into her room collapsed on her bed in exhaustion. Both mentally and physically. She took a deep breath and let it out quickly. Lhach's words couldn't get out of her head. Why did he say that? Did he mean he was losing control of his powers again?

Kitty rolled over on her back and watched the ceiling fan make circles around the white paneling, "Lhach, did you really say that?" She whispered to herself.

Her eyelids fluttered closed as she watched the fan spin in an almost hypnotic fashion and she quickly fell asleep.

A little while later, Kitty woke up to the sound of a hair drier being turned off.

Rogue was standing in front of the mirror by her own bed, drying her hair. Kitty looked around at the clock above her bed at noticed it was six thirty already! She had less than a half an hour to get ready for the party.

"Rogue!" She whined.

Rogue put the drier away and began to work a comb through her thick brown hair, "Whut?"

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"'Cause if Ah did, you'd probably yell at meh like yeh do every mornin'. Then again Ah guess even if now that Ah haven't woken youh up, you're still yellin at meh so Ah guess it's irrelevant." She said.

It took Kitty a second to process all that but nevertheless she let out a frustrated sigh and got up. "I'm taking a quick shower."

"Ah'll alert the media."

Kitty rolled her eyes and shut the bathroom door shut tight.

About fifteen minutes later, Kitty got out of the shower and noticed that Rogue was gone. She took a quick survey of her surroundings and quickly got dressed.

"Well at least she left out my make-up out for me." She thought.

Kitty wore a pair of low rise, kaki capri's with a tight black shirt which an unbuttoned, light blue one over that. She wore light blue eye shadow with light pink lip-gloss to add to that.

Another fifteen minutes had passed by and Kitty received a knock at her door. She opened it slightly and peered out. Lhach was waiting outside her door.

"You ready?"

Kitty turned of the light in her room and closed the door behind her, "Yep!"

Lhach was wearing lose black jeans with the same style black shirt and had dark gray jacket over that. The shirt had a picture of the midsection of a skeleton, as if it were part of a costume. A few chains fell loosely from his side and one around his neck. He left his dark hair as it was, messy, yet somehow still neat. (a/n i kno its weird but just use yer imaginations. I KNO u have them!!!)

They headed downstairs and met up with Scott and Jean.

"Hey guys," Jean said cheerfully, "Kurt, Evan and Rogue already left. So we'll just catch up with you guys later." She informed them.

Kitty smiled, "Okay, thanks."

And with that, Lhach and Kitty headed out the door for Duncan's party.

* * *

I can't wait to write the next chapter! Man am I gunna have fun. I might even add in some fluff for you too . But I can't say between whom. Anyhoo, please review.


	4. Author's Apology

Author's Apology

I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am. I have been gone like, forever, and I'm sure none of you guys trust me anymore but I have a pretty damn good explanation. Something bad happened to me, something very bad. I got kicked outta school for 2 months and was under 'house arrest' for a while (not literal house arrest but I wasn't allowed to leave…) that and I wasn't allowed on the computer until I was back in school. Some other things happened to me along the lines of punishment but I'm not going to get into that because it really has no relation to why I haven't updated.

All I can say for now is that I am back and I intend to finish the second story with Lhach. Seeing how since all of this happened just after Halloween my new idea for the story is to write about what happened to me. Lhach being me (not sure if that's good grammar…) and going through what I went through… (kinda weird… I'm not sure how my boyfriend would react to me being a guy…)

Plus my writing skills have improved! XD XD XD So I look forward to writing summore stuff and I hope you'll come back to read it and enjoy it. Cuz trust me, this is what I live for… and for now (seeing how I'm still being punished a little bit) this is ALL that I live for. Lol.

Happy Reading!

Jupiter666


	5. Unexpected Truths

Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men. These are fictional stories about fictional people in fictional distress/danger/something else that starts with a 'D' and that's about it. Warning…some fluff on its way…like you care…and Kitty's friend Amanda is not the same Amanda as Kurt's girlfriend…if that made ANY sense at all. Actually some of Kitty's friends are based offa mine. Please R&R. And what better why to tell me how pissed off you are at me for being away for so long, then writing it all down in review form! Anyhoo… enjoy…

Chapter 4 – Unexpected Truths

"_All my friends said that they'd be at the party. Even Rachael and Kelly! And they usually never go to 'social gatherings' as they call them. This must be one heck of a party. I'd write more but thanks to Rogue I woke up late and didn't have a lot of time to write. Oh well. I gotta go."_

Inside Duncan's house, the pounding music was practically shaking the dust off the walls, that is if there were any left. Bright lights, mainly backlights, flashed through out the large dance floor that had been set up. A long table with a white tablecloth was backed up against the wall with pizza, chips, pop, candy, and everything you could think of. There was section of the house near the end of the snack bar where a group of chairs were lined up against the walls. A few girls were sitting in them, laughing at some people on the dance floor.

Kitty immediately spotted her friends near the snack table. They saw her with Lhach and came over to talk. A girl with short dark brown hair and another girl with longer brown hair and blonde streaks approached them first. They didn't have much of a costume. Just their regular clothes, black and purple bat wings and devil horns. One pink and one blue each.

"Hey, Amanda, hey Ashley." Kitty greeted them cheerfully.

"Who's your new boyfriend?" She said, jokingly.

Ashley grinned daringly, "Ya, Lance is gunna be jealous, huh?"

Lhach laughed quietly as he noticed Kitty's face because a bright, rose red, "He's not my boyfriend! He's simply, um, a** friend** of mine."

By this time a few other girls had wandered over to say hi. One had whitish, blonde hair and the other also had very long, dirty blonde hair.

"What's goin' on?"

"Hey Taylor, Lacey." Kitty said, "This is Lhach everybody."

The girls waved. Taylor was dressed up as a cat and Lacey had on a long black dress with a cape over it.

"Hey!"

"What's up?"

"So if you're not Kitty's boyfriend are you single?"

Kitty laughed, "Real funny, Taylor."

Now it was Lhach's turn to blush, "Um…"

Kitty pointed to the three girls sitting in a cluster of chairs at the far side of the snack bar, making fun of people. One had short reddish brown hair; one had short light brown hair and the other had glasses and long blonde hair that was tied back, "That's Jessica, Rachael and Kelly. They're not to sociable so don't expect an open invitation to talk to them."

None of them had costumes on besides Jessica who was a dog and Rachael had nothing more than a dog collar and a leash on. Kelly was just in her normal street clothes. She wasn't one to dress up, for anything.

"Oh, okay." Lhach said politely, "I'm gunna go find Kurt and the others."

"Okay."

Lhach walked off into the mass of people and made his way towards the staircase, leaving the girls alone.

"So, admit it. You like him." Taylor said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Maybe a little."

Ashley and Amanda grinned.

"Ha! I knew it."

"It's not like I have a crush on him or anything though." She stated, sticking her nose in the air.

"Who are you trying to fool? Us, or yourself?" Amanda asked quietly, more of a statement than a question.

That one made her stop and think for a second, "Well …"

* * *

Lhach had made his way upstairs and found himself in a small room that appeared to be one of the many guest bedrooms. There was a queen-sized bed in the corner, layered with lavender quilts and lace, proving two things: Duncan was filthy rich and almost never had company. A few furnishings lingered around the room that matched the bedspread and the obvious Dutch theme. 

Lhach took a deep breath and passed a hand through his hair. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened in the Danger Room and how disappointed he thought he had made the professor. Guilt was a strong, persistent feeling that isn't easily washed away with the tide and it had been weighing on his mind all night. Taking a few slow breaths Lhach tried to calm himself down and ease the feeling. After a moment or two he headed back down the stairs, knowing that he had a quiet place to escape to, and back into the pounding music and bright lights. To his surprise he didn't really mind it as much as when he had first arrived.

Lhach headed back over to where Kitty and her friends were. This time, Jessica, Rachael and Kelly were there.

"Hey, Lhach. Is Kurt here?"

"I couldn't find him. But he probably is."

"Oh. Well this is Jessica, Rachael and Kelly." She introduced them.

Rachael smiled, "Hey, sup?"

"So, what…" Jessica asked, "Is he your new boyfriend or something?"

Kitty sighed, "No! Why does everyone think that?"

"Sorreeey." She laughed, plastering a smile onto his pale face.

As if taking away from the awkward silence, the song changed to 'Simple and Clean' by Utada Hikaru and a grin tugged at Kitty's lips.

"Oh! I love this song!" She exclaimed. The others returned to their spots by the snack table, not before shooting Kitty an 'innocent' smile as they left.

Kitty grabbed Lhach's wrist and attempted to drag him onto the dance floor, "C'mon! It'll be fun!"

For some odd reason, Lhach let her drag him, "I can't dance."

"That's what everyone says."

They made their way through the crowded dance floor and found a small spot that was almost clear of people. Kitty began to dance and laugh at Lhach who had shoved his hands in his pockets and was still refusing to move.

* * *

On the other side of the room… 

Lance and the rest of his team arrived at Duncan's party in which to crash. They surveyed the area but couldn't see past the dance floor due to all the people.

"This music sucks." Toad stated flatly, "And the lights are too bright. And there aren't enough snacks!" He whined, picking on everything he could see.

"Great observation!" Pietro said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "May I remind you that this was your idea?"

"Ya, this is stupid." Blob grumbled, "I wanna crash sumthin NOW!"

The others starred at him blankly and blinked a few times for no apparent reason.

Toad shook his head, "It was an expression, yo. I meant as in to ruin the 'partay'."

"Yeah you idiot." Pietro added. But he quickly noticed Lance's eyes narrowing and glanced over in his direction, "What? WHAT!"

Lance began to push his way through the horde of people on the dance floor so fast that Pietro got lost.

"Man, what is up with him?" He asked no one in particular.

* * *

Kitty didn't seem to notice that Lance was there, seeing how she could barely see past the person next to her. The song ended quickly and 'My Immortal' was next by Evanescence. Kitty stopped to take a breath, as did Lhach. 

"Do you at least know how to slow dance?" She asked him in-between breaths.

Lhach shrugged, "I could give it a try."

Their little patch of space in the muck of people had grown even smaller. Kitty moved closer to Lhach as he put his hands on her waist. She rested her arms against him and a strange feeling came over her. She had never felt nervous in the presence of a guy before, let alone Lhach, but something seemed different.

_I'm so tired of being here  
Suppressed by all my childish fears  
And if you have to leave  
I wish that you would just leave_

_'Cause your presence still lingers here  
And it won't leave me alone_

Kitty looked up at him and realized she had never actually seen his eyes any colour other than black or gray or different variations of the two. Never at all when she first met him. They were an unusual shade of aquamarine blue surrounded by light gray.

_These wounds won't seem to heal  
This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase_

That morning, when Lhach had lost control of his powers, his eyes seemed different. Darker almost; shrouded by mist and ice. But now, they were full of emotion. As if the ice had melted leaving the water behind.

"Lhach, can I ask you something?" She asked softly.

Little did she know Lhach was feeling the same way.

"Um, sure."

He had never felt like this when he was with a girl. Though the only time he ever was, was when he had been in the orphanage.

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have  
All of me_

"What happened this morning? In the training session?"

Lhach darted his eyes to the ground then back up at Kitty, "Well, I… " Lhach paused as if processing his thoughts. He took in a sharp breath, "Listen, there are times when I just kinda start to think about what happened at Westin Hills and I sorta forget what I'm doing. I didn't mean to do those things." He explained, trying hard not to make eye contact.

Kitty listened closely.

"Now can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

Lhach held her body close to his and whispered in her ear, "Thanks. For saving my life earlier."

A light shade of pink blossomed across her face, "No problem." She smiled weakly. But her smile quickly dropped as she felt the ground shake slightly. Lhach loosened his grip as if feeling it too. She looked around to see if anyone else had noticed the slight tremour but no one seemed to notice.

"Problem."

Kitty and Lhach turned around only to see Lance standing in front of them, "What do you think you're doing with my girl."

"Lance, please." Kitty started, "We were just dancing. And who says I'm **your** girl?" She retorted after processing what Lance had said.

But Lance wouldn't listen. Lhach stepped away from Kitty and returned his glare. Without a second warning Lance had swung a punch to the side of Lhach's face. He took a step back upon impact but didn't let on to be phased.

Lance tried the same move again but Lhach caught his fist before it could touch his face and threw his own into Lance's stomach. A few people noticed as he fell back onto the hard ground.

People jumped to the side and stared for a moment at the scene.

Lance shot up to his feet and ran at Lhach. But he leaped to the side, sending Lance into the crowd alerting everyone's attention to the two teens.

Toad jumped out from the crowd and helped Lance up, "C'mon, lets get outta here, yo."

"Why should I?" He spat, tearing his arm away from the mutant.

Toad glanced up at Lhach, "He'd kill you. He's done it before, yo. I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem killin' someone else."

Glaring heavily at Lhach once last time, Lance got up and pushed his way out of the party.

The crowd, now rendered fight-less, became suddenly bored and returned to their business leaving Lhach and Kitty in a state of shock.

'How…how did he know?' Lhach thought, 'About the security guard.' He looked to the ground in a panic, 'Damnit. It was a fucking accident.'

Lhach bit down on his lip harder than he intended to and tasted blood. Grabbing Kitty's wrist, he weaved his way out of the crowd and up the stairs.

* * *

"Lhach, what's going on?" Kitty demanded as soon as Lhach shut the door to the guest bedroom behind him. 

"Listen, Kitty," Lhach began slowly, "I didn't lose my powers 'cause I didn't realize what I was doing. I lost them because whenever I become overwhelmed with guilt or anger, that's when I lose my powers." He blurted out.

"But, Lhach, I thought you had worked over that."

"I thought so too. But lately, I just haven't been able to clear my mind. It's like all the memories of everything that ever happened to me are flooding back inside my mind and I can't stop it."

Kitty thought he couldn't lose control anymore. She knew how dangerous he could be if he lost control. He had said he had it all under control. Was he lying to her? Kitty's mind was racing, "Lhach, you need to tell the professor." Was the only thing she could spit out.

"I can't." He sighed, "Don't you understand? If Xavier knew that what he was doing wasn't helping, or that I'm losing control of my powers all over again, he'd send me back to Westin Hills."

"So this is what it's all about?" Kitty asked, lowering her tone, more a statement than a question, "Lhach, Xavier wouldn't do that. He knows how much you hate it there. He wouldn't make you go back."

Lhach sat down on the bed and buried his face in his hands, "I can't go back there. Please don't tell anyone." He muttered through his hands.

Kitty sat down next to him and stared at the ground, "Lhach, everyone makes mistakes. It's okay. I do it all the time." A weak smile managed to appear on her face.

Lhach looked up at her, "That's exactly what Xavier said."

That's when she noticed it. Lhach's eyes. They were the same as they were when they had been dancing; full of emotion. But when Lance came, it was like he was a whole different person. Maybe Kitty's friends were right. Maybe she does love him. But she saw how Lance had acted when he thought her and Lhach were together. She couldn't bear to hurt him. But she didn't know if she loved Lhach or not.

"You can control your powers. I know you can."

Lhach wanted to believe her. He really did, but something inside of him made it seem impossible.

Kitty cupped a hand under his chin to keep him from steadying his gaze on the floor again, "Do you remember when you killed me? You were so overcome with emotion after you realized what you had done. But you didn't change. It was the same emotion, sadness, but you didn't change. I remember it like it was yesterday. Your emotion and care for me was what made Cloie come. If it wasn't for you, I'd still be dead."

Opening his mouth as if to say something, Lhach found himself speechless. Unable to return a comment he looked back at Kitty. Time had seemed to stop as Kitty slowly brought her lips to meet his. Lost forever in that one second, Lhach returned her kiss, his tongue working it's way around the inside of Kitty's mouth. She felt herself begin to melt in Lhach's arms and closed her eyes. He felt Kitty shift her body onto his and he pulled her down next to him. All sound seemed to filter out of her mind as Kitty found herself unable to move, frozen in a hypnotic phase. The next thing she knew, Kitty was laying below Lhach. She passed a hand through his thin dark hair and let it fall back over his eyes. Lhach brought his lips back down to hers. The same feeling washed over her again. A feeling she couldn't understand. This wasn't right. All those stupid health classes said it wasn't right. So why didn't she care?

* * *

"Hey Ashley…" 

"Hmm…?" Ashley turned to face Taylor, whose blonde hair now hair purple streaks down the sides, "Hey..."

"Have you seen Kitty any where?"

"Um, no." Ashley responded, as if just now realizing Kitty was gone.

Taylor put a hand on her hip and looked around the room, "Cuz I saw her dancing with Lhach a little while ago, but now, I think, both of them are gone."

"That's weird."

A broad chested (-- sp?), blonde haired jock approached the girls, "Hey, are you ladies enjoying the party?"

He smelled like alcohol.

Taylor plastered on her most sarcastic smile and tilted her at towards him, "Oh yes, Duncan, I'm having a **wonderful** time! Thanks ever so much for inviting us!"

Duncan smiled, "No problem, maybe I'll see you girls around…"

Ashley laughed. He bought it, "Yeah, maybe."

Duncan continued on his way leaving the girls to drown in their laughter.

* * *

Kitty couldn't think. She couldn't move. Nothing was making sense to her. She wanted to get up, to leave, but those thoughts had become very insignificant, very quickly. But something else was wrong. Something else she was feeling. Kitty pushed the back of head against the pillow as hard as she could to break away from Lhach's kiss. 

"Lhach, wait…"

But she didn't need an explanation. The floorboards creaked. Lhach and Kitty froze. Someone was coming up the stairs.

The doorknob turned and a blonde haired jock waltzed into the room.

Kitty and Lhach were sitting up on the side of the bed. Duncan looked over at them impassively.

Suddenly, a strange expression appeared on his face, "I'll have two extra large pepperoni and mushroom pizzas to go please."

Lhach stood up and walked over to him, "Duncan?"

"Thank you for your time." And with that he turned around and walked back out of the room.

Kitty stared after him for a few seconds, trying hard to come to realization of what she just saw.

"I think… he's drunk..." Lhach laughed.

Kitty smiled back at him.

* * *

A few moments later, the two of them made their way back downstairs, pretending like nothing happened. 

"Kitty! Lhach! Where were you guys?" Jean asked, acting all worried as usual.

Jean was standing next to the punch bowl. Kitty and Lhach exchanged looks.

Lhach grinned, "Your boyfriend's drunk, red."

Jean rolled her eyes, "I know, and he's not he's not my boyfriend."

"Sure."

Kitty laughed.

"That's besides the point, Ceribro caught Avalanche using his powers tonight. What happened?"

Lhach shrugged, "It was nutthin much." And without another word, him and Kitty left the party.

Jean watched them go in silence as Scott approached her.

"There's something different about them." Scott thought out loud.

"Yeah. But I don't know what."


	6. Losing Control

Chapter 5 – Losing Control

"How do I begin? And I thought I had trouble figuring out why I wanted to impress Lhach! I still can't believe what happened last night. But as strange as it may sound, I kinda don't have a problem with it. I never felt so close to someone. I never had a guy treat me like that. It still feels weird. But I think I like him. No, my friend's were right. As much as I hate to admit it…they were right. I do have a crush on him. I guess I never realized it until I actually thought about it. I think even when he was in Westin Hills I liked him. I just hope Lance's okay. I really didn't mean to hurt his feelings. But it's not like me and him were going out or anything. I just don't know what to feel."

"WHAT!" Lance screamed.

Toad ducked for cover when he felt the earth begin to shake, "I told you, Kitty and that Lhach guy are goin' out, yo!" He shrieked, "It's not my fault!"

Lance let out a low grow and stormed out of the house. He slammed the door behind him in frustration and began to kick a nearby tree. After his 20-second spaz attack (a/n: that's what we call them in my house :P lol), he stopped and leaned up against it.

"Damnit." He cursed lightly under his breath. He bit his lip to prevent his eyes from watering. Lance lifted his head up to the sky and took a deep breath, "I will get back at Lhach. If it's the last thing I do."

* * *

At the Institute…

Jean walked casually down the hallway, keeping an eye for Kitty's room. Just as she found it, the door opened and kitty walked out.

"Jean?"

"Kitty, we need to talk." She said seriously.

"Um, okay. Am in trouble or something? You have that glint in your eye."

Jean smiled, "No, you're not in trouble. But I need to ask you something."

"Okay…"

"What happened last night, with Lhach?"

Kitty froze, "What do you mean?"

"Well," Jean started, "I couldn't find you guys for while when I got there and when I did, you were coming down from the second floor."

Kitty looked at her in that, 'I-really-don't-know-what-you-are-talking-about' mode. But Jean could tell she was lying.

Jean sighed, "Kitty, just, don't do anything you'll regret. Okay?"

"Um, okay."

Jean continued to walk downstairs leaving Kitty alone in the hallway. She really didn't like lying to Jean. But what was she supposed to say? Kitty almost didn't recognize herself anymore. She had changed a lot sense the previous night and didn't know why. She would never lie to Jean, but now, it barely phased her.

(a/n: get it! Get it! **Phase** her! Get it! HAHAHA cough sorry. Continue reading…)

* * *

In the Planning Room…

"Lance attacked Lhach for no apparent reason and Mystique hasn't been using her powers in over a month." Xavier stated, "There has to be some relation. But I don't know what. I guess our only other options are to wait and see what happens, or to sent out a couple of the X-Men to find out what Mystique's planning." He said to no one in particular.

Beast nodded in agreement, "If nothing else comes up I guess our only option is to go find out for ourselves what's going on. I'm just not sure if that's safe."

* * *

"Kitty. What if she tells him?" Lhach whispered to himself, "He'll make me go back. I know he will. I couldn't bare it. Everyday waking up in that stupid room, knowing that this is gunna be the only thing that ever happens to you until you die. I can't take it anymore."

Lhach fell back in a chair next to his bed and shut his eyes in concentration.

"No, Kitty wouldn't do that. She wouldn't tell him. She knows how much I hate it there. Then again, how could she? Maybe she think telling him is for the best."

"No, shut up." He told himself harshly, "She wouldn't."

"How do you know that?"

Lhach froze, "No, you're supposed to be dead. Kitty wouldn't do something like that."

"You don't know that. You thought you could control our powers and you couldn't. Now what makes you think she wouldn't tell someone? Maybe not Xavier, but someone. "

"No…"

"Kitty can't keep her mouth shut forever."

Lhach got up and walked over to the wall.

"Leave me alone. I never asked for this."

"You never asked to be put in Westin Hills either. But you were. And you're going to again!"

Lhach's eyes because darker along with a small section of the wall became darker as well.

"You don't deserve a friend like her."

"Shut up."

A small letter was etched in the wall. White chips of paint crumbled and fell to the floor.

"You don't belong in this school.

"Shut up."

A word was formed. Then another.

"You belong in Westin Hills.

The words stopped. A simple, five letter sentence had been craved into the wall.

"Og waya." He muttered.

Lhach froze as he realized what had just escaped past his lips. Did he just say that? Did he just say something in Judip?

He read the sentence on the wall silently…

* * *

Kitty let out a sigh, "Maybe I should have told Jean." She said, 'What did she mean by, 'don't do anything you'll regret'?"

Kitty gazed out her window at the panoramic view of the front yard. A few trees were scattered across the area. A large, silver statue in the middle of a fountain stood silently in the center of the walkway.

"Lhach, I know how messed up your mind can be. I should tell Xavier. That would be the right thing to do. But I won't."

* * *

'T'nod ekam em og kcab.'

It was in Jupid also.

He backed away from the wall in horror.

"No…I can't say that." He whispered.

Suddenly his eyes began to burn. He threw his hand to his eyes in pain and fell to his knees. The only thing running through his mind at the time was Lance. What had happened back there? Why did he attack him? Why did Lhach fight back?

Lhach opened his eyes slowly and looked around the room. Something was wrong.

"You're crazy."

Lhach broke into a cold sweat. He didn't say that. Something was very wrong.

"No…" He shut his eyes and screamed, "Og yawa…"

* * *

Kitty turned her head away from the window and stared into space. She should do something. She wanted Lhach to know she would never tell Xavier anything if Lhach didn't want her to.

Kitty got up and walked out of her room.

* * *

Lhach's room became very messy…

The only thing left standing was his bed and his desk next to the window. He sighed and flopped down into a chair. Shutting his eyes in concentration, he heard someone walk by his door, stop, and continue walking.

Lhach got up and opened his door.

Taking a quick look around, he noticed something on his door. A strange thought came into his mind.

Kitty was the one who walked by.

There were a couple of small flowers from the garden in the front yard in-between the doorknocker and door. Lhach smiled and brought them inside.

Kitty wouldn't tell Xavier.


	7. Unwanted Premonitions

Chapter 7 – Unwanted Premonitions

"Lhach?"

A voice whispered to him in the darkness. The sound twisted and shaped itself in Lhach's mind. Light broke out and gushed into every dark corner.

Lhach opened his eyes and found himself in a sterile white room with large bay windows on either side. His shirt lay folded on the side of a chair across the room. It was soaked with water.

Pulling himself up, a sharp pain shot up Lhach's upper arms and stung the sides of his neck. Out of a natural reaction, Lhach gripped his shoulders only to find that they had been wrapped up with a thick white bandage.

"Lhach… what happened? Are you okay?"

Lhach looked up perplexedly (YES it is a word haha I looked it up:D) around the room. Fixing his gaze on the girl standing next to him he muttered, "Kitty?"

Kitty smiled as if she was holding in her breath and wrapped her arms around him. Lhach paused for a moment, trying to contain yet another wave of stress up his solders, and hugged her back.

"What happened to you?" She whispered in his ear, losing her grip.

Lhach sighed, "I…I don't… remember." He mumbled, his own words sounding strange to him, "I don't know why, but, all I remember, is…" A chill soared down his spine at the thought, "…cold."

Kitty let Lhach go and sat down next to him. "You were cold?"

Searching his mind frantic for an answer, he nodded, "Yeah. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move, it was so cold."

"Well, I would think so," Jean Gray stroke into the room, Kurt in her wake, "You fell off the roof into a pile of snow."

Both Lhach and Kitty seemed shocked at her words… and sudden entrance.

"If Kurt hadn't teleported outside," Jean continued, "You'd have died from pneumonia."

Kurt smiled and waved from behind Jean. But his facial expression quickly fell as a thought popped up in his mind, "Vhy vere you outside anyway?"

Lhach shrugged, "I remember waking up, or at least I think I woke up anyway, and looked outside and it was snowing. Then I remember being on the roof and everything went black."

"But like, why were you on the roof?" Kitty asked curiously.

Lhach shrugged again, "Dunno."

Jean yawned and turned back towards the door, "Well, I'd better tell Beast you're alright. But you two," She glanced at Kurt and Kitty, "Had better get some rest… you have school in a few hours. As do I."

And with that, she nodded and walked back out of the room.

"She really is confident in herself, isn't she?" Kitty remarked.

But Lhach was still confused, "What time is it?"

Kurt looked over at a clock on the wall, "It's… uh… 5:15." He paused, "Mein Gott, ti's 5:15!" Kurt groaned and walked out of the room, "C'mon Kitty, ve'd better go get ready for skool."

Kitty sighed and got up, "I'll come home early." She told Lhach, 'get some rest."

He smiled and nodded at her as she left the room with Kurt. But as soon as she left Lhach laid back down and shut his eyes tight. He wished the pain in his arms would stop. His grip was firm, but Lhach had never known it to pierce his skin. Sinking down in the sheets at the thought of the snow, Lhach thought to himself… _'How'd I get on the roof?'_

Lhach tried to imagine what he was doing in between him waking up, and being on the roof. But he couldn't think of anything.

"_Why'd_ I go on the roof… someone was there… her face."

Shadows entwined themselves around the room like a flash of lightning. Snow filled Lhach's mind and a girl stood before him. It was cold. So cold. Lhach couldn't breathe. His shirt stuck to his skin and stung it painfully. His fingers, cutting into his arms. The girl stood there crying. Lhach fell to his knees.

"Damnit!" He screamed.

Lhach bolted upright in his bed and searched the room with his eyes. It was the same. No snow, no girl, no nothing. It was the same hospital wing.

Lhach laid back down, cold sweat dripping down his face; his body shaking with nervousness, and slowly fell out of consciousness.

* * *

The afternoon bell rang, releasing kids from their studies and shaking some out of their daydreams. Kitty was the first one out. Normally, she would stay after school with Kurt and Evan to study, but she had promised Lhach she's come home early.

She slammed her locker shut and briskly walked down the hallway to the busses. But before she reached the door, a voice stopped her.

"Kitty! Kitty wait up!"

Kitty stopped and turned around. Her heart sank into her shoes as she saw Lance approaching her.

"Hey.."

"Lance, I can't stay today…" She began, "I like, have to go hime."

"Home to Lhach?"

"What?"

"So you're going out with him now, huh?"

Kitty's expression hardened, "Yes, I'm going out with him, why?"

"Do you love him?"

"I guess, but what does this have to do with anything?" Kitty already knew the answer to that question.

"I don't like it." Lance muttered, "I don't like you going out with him."

"Why? It's not like, I broke up with you to do it or anything. It's not like, _we_ were going out."

Lance studied her for a moment, "Right." He said.

"Lance, I gotta go, I can't miss my buss." She whined.

Lance sighed and started to walk off, "Fine, right, I know."

Once Lance had turned the corner, Kitty ran all the way to her buss.

* * *

Lhach opened his eyes warily, his head burning as he tried to look around the room. The red numbers on the clock were blurred in Lhach's vision, but bright as neon stars. Lhach had been asleep for six hours. He moaned and rolled over to face the other side of the room. A cool breeze lifted his hair away from his eyes and brushed up against his bare arms. The bandages had been taken off and a red, swollen handprint marked both his arms, dried blood clinging to the tips of the fingerprints. They were his handprints. He had made himself bleed trying to stay warm. It shouldn't have been that cold.

"They'll go away."

Lhach sat up at the sound and saw Kitty sitting next to him on the chair, his shirt in her hands.

She smiled sweetly, "The professor says you can leave if you want. He didn't want to wake you up so I stayed here until you did." He said, handing him his shirt, "Here, it dried. It must've been wet from the snow."

Lhach pulled his shirt on, grateful to have something covering his chest. The low feeling in the pit of his stomach had somehow lifted, but it was still there, dragging him down and causing him to jump at every other movement for the rest of the day. But somehow, that didn't bother him. Kitty only left his side at night, when they had to go to sleep for school the next day.

But throughout that day, and the next few weeks, the words that lingered in the back of Lhach's mind still haunted his dreams:

"_Everything's okay, but nothing can be okay. That's why it's wrong. Open your eyes, before it's too late…"_

* * *

Haha… I was going to name this chapter "…And The World Moves On (just very slowly)" but it wasn't very relevant to what was going on so I'll save that one. Oh, and once again, I will say this, all of this happened to me. Only I never went to a hospital. Yes, I really passed out and fell off a roof in the middle of a snowstorm right before Christmas. And I'm not crazy, but I see things because of the medication I take (which I no longer take anymore haha! does happy dance) and I saw someone telling me to stop. But I didn't know what she was talking about. I still kinda am not quite sure but I have an idea. Anyhoo… all will be explained shortly… unless, of course, no one reviews. cries Then I can never update! Wahhhhh! So please review. Thanx bunches! -Jupiter666 


	8. Letters in the Snow

Chapter 8 – Letters in the Snow

* * *

Thanksgiving came and went, Lhach left for Washington D.C. with a Jubilate high school band group. He called Kitty every night from his cell phone and spent Thanksgiving on his own at a restaurant in D.C. then went off to the Kennedy Center for one last performance. He flew back to New York a week before Christmas and the city was already decorated with flashing lights, giant Christmas trees and sales going on in every store. The snow was about as predictable as ever, hailing down at completely random moments. Sometimes for three days straight. The first snow day of the year took place under two feet of snow. 

The Institute was also getting ready for Christmas and just as the whole town, it had turned into one big mad house of people cheering 'Merry Christmas' to one another and Christmas trees decorating almost every room in a total of two days. The holiday season was here at last.

Kurt had quit his usual antics of pulling Kitty under the mistletoe only as Lhach shot him a warning glance. Kitty couldn't help but laugh at the two, lightening the mood at exactly the right time.

Even Arch Angel dropped by a few times for the occasion. But as Christmas day crept closer and closer, many of the students left for their own families to drink eggnog and spend Christmas morning with. Rogue remained and Scott joined his brother in California for an unusual, warm x-mas. Beast and Xavier stayed behind, of course, as did Lhach.

Lhach would never say it to her face, but he didn't want Kitty to leave for her home. He knew she couldn't stay and it would be selfish of him to ask her too, but he couldn't help but wish she would stay. He had never spent Christmas with anyone he truly loved since his mother was still alive.

But this was different.

Lhach stood next to the fire. Watching the flames, absent mindedly, they fought widely with each other in sort of a rhythm. They licked the bark off the wood, crackling and popping in disarray. The room was dark, the fire being the only source of light, illuminating Lhach's face and the sparkling Christmas tree, just out of reach of the dark corners of the room.

The snow fell heavily, a black car sat impatiently in the dark driveway, the moonlight shining brightly off the side panels. Kitty galloped down the stairs, two duffel bags clutched tightly in her hands.

Lhach turned at the noise, set his glass of eggnog down, and went to help Kitty with her bags.

"Thanks," She breathed.

Lhach smiled and heaved a bag onto his back, "Jeez, didja bring your bed too?" He joked, holding the bag with both hands behind his head.

Kitty laughed quietly and Lhach looked to the ground, a smile lingering on his face. His eyes were distant, unconscious even.

Kitty kissed him lightly on the cheek, "I'm gunna miss you."

A faint crimson fell over his face, "I'll miss you too." He said, looking up at her.

"But I'll be back, okay?"

Lhach nodded and smiled at her, holding the door open. They made their way down the cold, snowy steps to the taxi.

Kitty got in and Lhach put her bags in the seat next to her, "Tell your parents I said 'hi.' He said, ducking under the roof of the taxi.

Kitty nodded, "Okay, I'll see you in a few weeks."

"Bye." Lhach shut the door and waved as the taxi sped off into the darkness. Lhach stood there in the snow watching the car until it completely disappeared. Still he stood by, as if waiting for something to happen, and then walked back inside.

Realizing he was cold only after he shut the door behind him, Lhach headed back to the fireplace. The Institute changed. The old feeling of Christmassy cheer was gone and a new air of solitude awoke with an unpleasant start. It was strange, foreign, like it shouldn't be there.

It was going to be a long couple of weeks.

* * *

Lhach took a swig of eggnog and poured another few drops of rum into the glass. He sauntered over to a big red armchair and collapsed into it, his eyes never leaving the fire. It spat and lashed out every few seconds, emitting the only sound in the whole building, or so it seemed. Lhach let out all of the air in his lungs and closed his eyes. 

A voice reached out to him the dark, shaking him from his trance.

"Lhach?"

"Hmm…?" He sighed, opening his eyes gradually, "Rogue?"

She sat down in a chair next to his, "Hey."

"Sup?"

"Wow."

"What?"

Rogue gazed down in the fire, "You."

Lhach stared back at her blankly, "Oh."

She laughed, "Yeh miss her already… don't you?"

"Yeah."

Rogue watched the fire dancing in front of her patiently, "Ah heard you got the rum."

Lhach grinned and threw the bottle to her.

She laughed and poured some into her own eggnog. "Ah thought so…"

(a/n I've actually tried that, and it tastes **really** good! And it doesn't get you drunk if you only have a little bit! I love it does happy dance)

Rogue got up and headed back to the stair case, taking the bottle of rum with her "Hey, do you wanna go up to Sam Ash tomorrow or sumthin? Ah got a few gift cards from Kurt and Scott fer Christmas fer Sam Ash… an Ah still hafta buy you sum'in."

(a/n Sam Ash is a total kick-ass music store up in NYC! XP okay I'll shut up now…)

"Sure." Lhach said, taking another sip off his eggnog, "That'd be fun."

"Great! Sam Ash it is." Rogue finished. And with that, she walked back up the stairs to her room.

Lhach looked back into the fire and slowly fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning was as brisk and cold as ever. Lhach and Rogue took the subway down to New York City early in the morning to beat the crowds of last minute shoppers. As they reached Sam Ash, dozens of people littered the streets, making the traffic a complete nightmare. And inside the store it was no better. In fact, you could say it might have been even worse. 

But Rogue and Lhach had managed to get through the crowds and buy a few new CDs and head back home still in one piece.

(a/n hey, I'm impressed, after seeing NYC during x/mas time… well, lets just say it was very exhausting… -.-')

Lhach thanked Rogue for the hundredth time for the CD and headed up to his room.

* * *

Meanwhile, Xavier and Beast were enjoying the holiday season the way they always have… playing chess. Usually, Scott would join them, but after previously being reunited with his younger brother, Alex, Scott had started spending the holiday seasons down in California with him. 

Chess is what made Christmas, Christmas for Beast and Xavier. After developing the habit of playing chess at this time every year, it simply wouldn't be Christmas without it. But for Lhach, Christmas had become, for him, joining the other prisoners in Westin Hills for dinner, and watching them visit with their families in their cells for a while. Even if Lhach was free, even if the holidays at the Institute were better, it still wasn't the same.

Lhach shook himself mentally. What the hell was he thinking? He almost… missed Westin Hills. For a spit second, he felt a yarning to go back. But another second later he stood in shock of the thought. It was impossible. He wanted to be sick for just thinking about such a thing.

Lhach sat down under his window and unwrapped the CD Rogue had bought for him. Reaching over to his stereo, he popped the CD in and pressed play.

Something was different. Something wasn't right.

Lhach turned the music louder.

He couldn't stop thinking. Thinking about something. He didn't know what. But it made him sick to his stomach.

He turned up the music again.

The thought wouldn't leave. He felt anxious, nervous, scared, by something.

The music wasn't drowning it out.

* * *

Xavier clicked one of his pieces down, "Checkmate." 

Beast nodded and moved his own piece, "Do you hear that noise?"

The ceiling was shaking under Lhach's room.

"No." Xavier responded, completely absorbed in the game.

Beast moved another piece, "Hmm…"

Xavier took his turn, "Checkmate."

"Are you sure you don't hear that?"

"Could it be your nerves? You're losing."

"Hmm…" Beast responded again.

* * *

"Lhach!" Rogue pounded on his door, "Turn that down, I have to study for school." Rogue cocked her head in awareness as the door clicked open and she fell into Lhach's room. 

She got up to her feet, brushing herself off, and looked around. The music was blaring. Rogue walked over the stereo and turned the music back down.

"Lhach?"

No one answered. No one was there.

"Where did he go?" She thought out loud.

Scanning the room once more, her stomach churned. Something was wrong. Seriously wrong.

"Lhach?"

His window. It was open.

A sudden panic coming over her, Rogue rushed to the window and looked across the yard. A white sheet of snow covered the trees and the road. No footprints, no sign of anything; it was perfectly white.

The windowpane grew darker. Her shadow had expanded, forming another person lurking in the darkness behind her. Rogue turned, her hair flinging in front of her face.

"Lhach!" She gasped, almost screamed.

Lhach hovered over her, his hair hanging over his half of his face.

"Yeh scared the shit outta meh!" She breathed, "What are yeh doin?"

But Lhach's expression remained impassive.

Rogue stared curiously at him, "Lhach? Ar yeh akay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He muttered, sauntering over to his desk.

"Um, akay." She mumbled back.

* * *

"The noise stopped." 

Beast clicked his last piece down, "Hmm…"

"I win."

"I know."

"Play again?"

"Nah."

Xavier and Beast's **rapt** conversation (a/n I'm using sarcasm… can you tell? Haha… laugh with me people…) was suddenly interrupted with a knock at the door.

Rising from the table, Beast went to answer the door. However, upon opening it, he found that there was no one there. Looking around cautiously, he noticed a letter on the snow.

Beast picked it up and flipped it over to find the address of the Institute, and Lhach's name at the top of it.

"Who was it?" Xavier emerged around the corner.

Beast, still examining the letter, frowned, "The return address says, _Westin Hills_."

Xavier sighed, his expression falling as well, "You'd better give it to him. No use hiding it."

"Hmm… right."

* * *

Lhach sat in the middle of his floor, his headphones on (only because Rogue made him), scribbling something down in dark blue notebook. He sat, transfixed in the music, with no other thoughts than the ones being screamed in the song. But a loud noise interrupted those thoughts. Lhach removed the earpieces, letting them hang around his neck, and looked towards the source of the sound. 

Something was lying in front of his door. Lhach got to his feet and picked up the letter.

"Lhach Lucas Laurenson… " He read silently off the note, "You have been invited within the following dates, December 20th – December 25th…" He murmured on.

Lhach scammed the page hastily, his hands shaking, and thrust the letter onto the floor.

"Those bastards!" He screamed, "Who the Hell do they think they are?" Lhach held his head in his hands to try to contain himself and flopped down into an armchair next to his bed.

After a moments of cooling down, Lhach glanced again at the letter from across the room. He shifted his weight onto the floor and sat there, staring at the paper.

"Dear Lhach Lucas Laurenson," the letter read, "You have been invited within the following dates, December 20th – December 25th to visit Westin Hills: Mental Institution, for a short pre-designated amount of time over the holidays. During this time, a large Christmas dinner will be served in the main dining area, open to all staff, security members, and of course, Westin Hills inmates. Your presence is greatly desired, but not recommended. You may also bring gifts or cards to any of the inmates of your choosing (gifts **will **be inspected and possibly confiscated if package contains any violent, or possibly harmful substance, or anything potentially dangerous to the health and well being of the inmates and/or of others). Thank you and congratulations on your discharge of Westin Hills. We hope you will be joining us for the holidays."

Lhach pulled the paper down away from his face and aimed it at a trash bin next to his desk. Glaring at it for a moment, as if speaking to a small child, he muttered.

"Kcuf…. ouy…."

* * *

Xavier let out a frustrated sigh, "They're not doing this so he'll come back to see them. Westin Hills doesn't think he should have been released, and I guess that's just their way of saying it." 

"Pretty vulgar of them, don't you think?"

"You should go make sure Lhach hasn't destroyed anything yet."

"Right."

* * *

Kinda short, I know, but it's building up to something… don't you worry. The next chapter will be longer. And certainly updated faster. And yes, Lhach's full name is Lhach Lucas Laurenson. It comes from my original name for him which was Lucas but then Sins of the Son aired and it turned out that Xavier's son was named Lucas so I changed the name to Lhach which means flame in German and deer in Elvish. Also, the whole Jubilate thing is actually the name of the choir I'm in and we preformed witha the Jofferey Ballet (sp) and we ended up preforming in Washing DC for like, 3 weeks at 14 different stages and stuff, one of them being at the Kennedy Center over Thanksgiving... it was cool. Anyhoo… please review! And check out my new site on FictionPress. The name's Jupiter666 there. Same pen name as here. 


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